Message display device and method

ABSTRACT

A message display device for displaying a message used for notifying a user of the device of a state that a function processing included in the device is finished, the message display device includes an activation state storage unit for storing an activated event of a function including a process for displaying the message, and a message display determination unit for controlling the display of the message according to a frequency and an interval that the function including the process for displaying the message is activated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-227806, filed on Sep. 5,2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to a message display deviceand method.

BACKGROUND

A device has been popularized in which a message for notifying the userof the device of a state of a function being processed by the device isdisplayed in a device equipped with a display unit such as a mobilephone, a personal computer, or the like.

For example, a mobile phone and a personal computer temporarily displaymessage of “transmitted” under the state where transmission of e-mail isfinished in a mail transmission function, a mobile phone temporarilydisplays message of “registered” under the state where information suchas a telephone number, a mail address, or the like is registered in anaddress book in an address registration function, and a mobile phone anda personal computer temporarily display message of “set” under the statewhere setting of various setting items is performed in a setregistration function.

Further, there is also a device that displays a message of “transmit ornot” and asks for response of “OK” or “CANCEL” about the transmission inthe case where data owned by the device is transmitted to anotherdevice.

There is a case that the displayed message for confirming the processingstate is bothersome for the user. Accordingly, it has been examined thata setting not to display the message for asking the response ispreliminarily performed to the device as described in Japanese Laid-openPatent Publication No. 2006-5847.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the embodiment, a message display device fordisplaying a message used for notifying a user of the device of a statethat a function processing included in the device is finished, themessage display device includes an activation state storage part forstoring an activated event of a function including a process fordisplaying the message, and a message display determination part forcontrolling the display of the message according to a frequency and aninterval that the function including the process for displaying themessage is activated.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a mobilephone;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a processing of message display of themobile phone;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an activation state of the messagedisplay;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating predetermined data for the messagedisplay;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the messagedisplay; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a determining flow of the messagedisplay.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

As described previously, in a device equipped with a display unit suchas a mobile phone, a personal computer, or the like, there is a casethat a message to notify the user of a processing state of the devicefor confirmation is displayed. Hereafter the message for confirmation isdescribed as the confirmation message.

The confirmation message provides sense of security to the user who isinexperienced in handling the device, or when a function including aprocess for displaying the message is used after a long interval.

However, for the user who is experienced in handling the device, thereis no trouble even when the confirmation message is not displayed inmany cases, and the confirming messages may cause deterioration ofoperation efficiency.

With reference to drawings, embodiments will be described in detailedbelow, and the same reference numeral is used to denote the same orsimilar element in the drawings.

Note that a mobile phone is exemplified as the message display device inthe following description. However, the message display device may be apersonal computer or the like equipped with a display unit that displaysa message used for notifying the user of the processing state of thedevice for confirming the state of the device.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a mobilephone. Reference numeral 10 denotes a mobile phone. The mobile phone 10includes constitutional elements 1 to 5, which will be described hereinbelow.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a key-in unit. The key-in unit 1 generatesinformation (key information) used for identifying a key depressed inaccordance with a key (may be called as a button) mounted on the mobilephone 10. The key-in unit 1 includes, for example, an on-hook key, anoff-hook key, numeral keys of 0 to 9, a decision key, a clear key, amenu key, and the like.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a basic interface unit. The basic interfaceunit 2 includes an antenna, a microphone and a loudspeaker, and performsa processing of a signal required for a radio communication processingwhich is a basic function of the mobile phone 10.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a display unit. The display unit 3 displayscharacters/letters and figures with which the mobile phone 10 notifiesits user of a processing state of the mobile phone 10 and makes the userconfirm the processing state. For example, there are numeral keyinformation in case of inputting telephone number, text information tobe transmitted in case of transmitting a mail, a transmission completionmessage in case of a mail being transmitted, and the like.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a device control processing unit. The devicecontrol processing unit 4 includes a radio communication processing unit41 and an application processing unit 42 so as to process and controlthe key information from the key-in unit 1, information on radiocommunication with the basic interface unit 2 and information on displayon the display unit 3.

The radio communication processing unit 41 is equipped with a CPU(Central Processing Unit) for processing communication and callprocessing controlling to provide layer 1 function for performingcommunication and call processing.

The application processing unit 42 is equipped with a CPU taking chargeof application processing to perform processing of the key informationfrom the key-in unit 1, processing of information displayed on thedisplay unit 3 and processing for operating application softwareinstalled on the mobile phone 10.

The radio communication processing unit 41 and the applicationprocessing unit 42 also perform processing of information required forsignal transmission/reception from a radio communication function to anapplication function and vice versa. For example, the radiocommunication processing unit 41 notifies the application processingunit 42 of the state of communication so as to perform displaying on thedisplay unit 3 in accordance with the communicating state.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a software group. The software group 5includes pieces of software 51 to 58 which will be describedhereinbelow.

A device driver 51 is software used to make use of peripheral devicesrequired to execute the radio communication processing which is a basicfunction of the mobile phone 10. A communication control OS 52 is an OS(Operating System) prepared for a communication control CPU incorporatedinto the radio communication processing unit 41. A communication controlsoftware 53 is used to perform processing of a communication control(layer 2/layer 3 control) protocol. A terminal adapter 54 is softwareused to process an interface signal for connecting to a DSU (DigitalService Unit) over ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network).

A device driver 55 is software used to make use of peripheral devicesrequired for execution of application functions installed on the mobilephone 10. An application OS 56 is an OS prepared for a CPU forapplication processing incorporated into the application processing unit42. A middleware 57 is software located in the middle of an OS andapplication software, such that application software can be run withoutbeing affected by the differences of the hardware or the OS. Anapplication software 58 is installed on the mobile phone 10, andincludes, for example, mail software used to implement an e-mail,software used to implement a music player, game software used toimplement an electronic game, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a processing of message display. Amessage display function processing part 421, a message display controlpart 422, a message display determination part 423, an activation statestorage part 424, a predetermined data storage part 425, and apredetermined data update part 426 are included in the applicationprocessing unit 42 described in FIG. 1. These units process the data tobe displayed on the display unit 3.

The message display function processing part 421 processes the displayfunction included in functions including a step of processing the datato be displayed on the display unit 3 in the function being processed bythe mobile phone 10, and notifies the message display control part 422of the data to be displayed. Then, when a function including a processfor displaying a confirmation message is processed, data used toidentify the function (referred to as message display function name) isnotified to the activation state storage part 424. The message displayfunction name is included in the display data and notified also to themessage display control part 422.

The confirmation message is a message used for notifying the user of themobile phone 10 of a function processing to confirm that the functionprocessing is finished when the processing of the function provided inthe mobile phone 10 is finished. As examples of the message, there are“mail transmission completed” in the case where a mail transmissionprocessing is normally finished in a mail transmission function,“registered” in the case where an address registration processing isnormally finished in an address registration function, and the like. Theconfirmation message is displayed only for a predetermined periodsufficient for the user confirming the message.

The message display control part 422 processes the display data notifiedfrom the message display function processing part 421 and controls thedisplay data so as to generate the confirmation message. That is, themessage display control part 422 inquires of the message displaydetermination part 423 about the message display function name notifiedfrom the message display function processing part 421. Then, based onresponse data from the message display determination part 423, when thedisplay data notified from the message display function processing part421 has an attribute non-displaying the confirmation message, themessage display control part 422 controls the display data and notifiesthe display unit 3 of data without non-displaying data, used fordisplaying.

The message display determination part 423 determines that theappropriate confirmation message inquired by the message display controlpart 422 is displayed or made non-display, based on the data of anactivation frequency and an activation interval stored in the activationstate storage part 424 and a predetermined data (predetermined value)stored in the predetermined data storage part 425. The determined resultis notified to the message display control part 422 corresponding to themessage display function name.

The activation state storage part 424 updates the cumulative activationnumber and activation frequency for every message display function namebased on the data notified (message display function name) when themessage display function processing part 421 processes a functionincluding a process for displaying a confirmation message. Further, theactivation state storage part 424 obtains the activation interval fromthe difference between the stored data of the previous activation timeand the data of the present activation time, and then updates theactivation time. The data of the updated activation frequency and theobtained activation interval is notified to the message determinationpart 423.

The updated data of the cumulative activation number, the activationfrequency, and the activation time is stored for every message displayfunction name as indicated in FIG. 3 described below.

The predetermined data storage part 425 stores a non-display identifierused for identifying whether or not the confirmation message is madenon-display and predetermined data that are threshold values used fordetermining whether or not the confirmation message is made non-display,for example, the cumulative activation number, the activation frequency,and the activation interval, for every message display function name. Bythe way, there is a case that the cumulative activation number is alsoused as a determination condition, so that the cumulative activationnumber is stored as predetermined data.

The predetermined data update part 426 stores the data set by the userfor updating in the predetermined data storage part 425 when the datastored in the predetermined data storage part 425 is updated by the userof the mobile phone 10.

By the way, the message display function processing part 421 is used asan example of the first determination means and the fourth determinationmeans, the message display control part 422 is used as an example of thecontrol means, and the message display determination part 423 is used asan example of the second determination means and the third determinationmeans.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the activation state of the messagedisplay, and indicates the data stored in the activation state storagepart 424 of FIG. 2.

In the activation state storage part 424, for example, a functionincluding a process for displaying the confirmation message used forsuch as mail transmission, address registration, or the like isregistered, (the function is referred to as message display functionname.) and the cumulative activation number, the activation frequency,and the activation time are stored corresponding to the message displayfunction name.

The cumulative activation number indicates an activated cumulativenumber of the function from the starting of using the device, and isupdated for each time when the function including a process fordisplaying the confirmation message is activated.

The activation frequency indicates the frequency that the function isactivated, and the activation frequency is updated for each time whenthe function including a process for displaying the confirmation messageis activated, and the activation frequency in the drawing is reset forevery one day.

The activation time indicates the time when the function is activated.An activation interval is calculated based on the data of the activatedtime and the data of the activation time stored in the activation statestorage part 424 for each time when the function including a process fordisplaying the confirmation message is activated, and the activationinterval is notified to the message display determination part 423. Andthe data of the activated time is updated.

Notably, it is preferable that the data stored herein may be reset bythe user of the mobile phone 10.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for illustrating a predetermined data of the messagedisplay, and indicates the data stored in the predetermined data storagepart 425 of FIG. 2.

For example, the message display function name including theconfirmation message used for such as mail transmission, addressregistration, or the like is registered. Further, the non-displayidentifier, and the predetermined data (predetermined value) of thecumulative activation number, the activation frequency and theactivation interval are stored corresponding to the message displayfunction name.

The non-display identifier is an identifier used for setting whether ornot the confirmation message is regarded as an object of non-display.For example, in the case of OFF, the confirmation message is notregarded as the object of non-display, and in the case of ON, regardedas the object of non-display.

The minimum values at which the confirmation message is made non-displayare set as the predetermined data of the cumulative activation numberand the activation frequency.

The maximum interval for activation at which the confirmation message ismade non-display is set as the activation interval.

The data stored in the predetermined data storage part 425 are changedbased on the data from the predetermined data update part 426.

That is, in the mobile phone 10 described above, when a functionincluding a process for displaying the confirmation message (messagedisplay function) is activated, the cumulative activation number, theactivation frequency, the activation time are updated and the activationinterval is obtained for every message display function name stored inthe activation state storage part 424. Then, as for the activationfrequency and the activation interval, whether of not the message ismade non-display is determined based on the corresponding predetermineddata stored in the predetermined data storage part 425. Accordingly, themessage display control part 422 controls whether or not the message ismade non-display based on the determined result by the message displaydetermination part 423 as for the confirmation message that is an objectof non-display.

According to the mobile phone 10 described above, when a functionincluding a process for displaying the confirmation message isactivated, it becomes possible to determine whether or not theconfirmation message is made non-display based on the predetermined data(predetermined value) of the activation frequency and the activationinterval for every function. Accordingly, it becomes possible that theconfirmation message is made non-display for every function. Further, itbecomes also possible to exclude the confirmation message from theobject of non-display for every function.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the messagedisplay.

S1: A function including a process for displaying a message such as, forexample, a mail transmission function of a mobile phone is activated.

S2: Whether or not the function activated in step S1 is corresponded toa function including a process for displaying the confirmation messageused for notifying the user of the processing state of the function(message display function) is determined. The determination is performedby whether or not the function is included in the message displayfunction registered in the predetermined data storage part 425 indicatedin FIG. 2.

In the case of corresponding to the function, step S3 is performed, andin the case of an in-corresponding to the function, the processing ofstep S6 for displaying the message is performed.

S3: The activation state is stored in the case where a functionincluding a process for displaying the confirmation message is activatedin step S2. That is, the cumulative activation number of the functionand the activation frequency obtained from the cumulative activationnumber of per unit time are updated for every message display functionname, the activation interval is obtained from the time data when thefunction is activated and the previous time data, and the time data(activation time) is updated.

S4: Whether or not the activation frequency updated in step S3 and theactivation interval obtained in step S3 are corresponding to thepredetermined conditions is determined. A detail processing flow of thestep is indicated in FIG. 6.

S5: A message processed in a step for displaying the message is madenon-display, in the case where the activation frequency and theactivation interval are corresponding to the predetermined conditions instep S4.

S6: A step for displaying the message is performed, in the case wherethe function is not including a process for displaying the confirmationmessage in step S2, or in the case where the activation frequency andthe activation interval are not corresponding to the predeterminedconditions in step S4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a determining flow of the messagedisplay and indicates contents of the processing of step S4 of FIG. 5.

S41: This step S41 is processed when the activated function includes aprocess for displaying the confirmation message. Whether or not theconfirmation message is made non-display is determined based on thenon-display identifier that indicates whether or not the confirmationmessage is regarded as an object of non-display, and the identifier isstored to correspond to the function.

And, the non-display identifier is stored in the predetermined datastorage part 425 indicated in FIG. 2. The message display determinationpart 423 receives data about the function, that is, the data of themessage display function name such as mail transmission, from themessage display control part 422. And the message display determinationpart 423 determines whether or not the appropriate confirmation messageis regarded as an object for non-display depending on the non-displayidentifier corresponding to the message display function name registeredin the predetermined data storage part 425.

According to the determined result, in the case where the confirmationmessage is the object of non-display, step S42 is processed, and in thecase where the message is the object of display, step S6 is processed.

S42: This step S42 is processed when the function including a processfor displaying the confirmation message is the object that is madenon-display in step S41. It is determined whether or not the activatedfrequency (activation frequency) of the function is greater than orequal to the predetermined data (predetermined value).

That is, the message display determination part 423 reads the data aboutthe activation frequency corresponding to the appropriate messagedisplay function name from the activation state storage part 424, readsthe data about the predetermined data corresponding thereto from thepredetermined data storage part 425, and determines whether or not theactivation frequency is greater than or equal to the predetermined data(predetermined value).

By the way, according to the appropriate function, the determination maybe preformed based on the cumulative activation number instead of theactivation frequency.

According to the determined result, when the activation frequency isgreater than or equal to the predetermined data, step S43 is processed,and when smaller than the predetermined data, step S6 is processed.

S43: This step S43 is processed when the activation frequency of thefunction including a process of displaying the confirmation message isgreater than or equal to the predetermined data in step S42. It isdetermined whether or not the interval of the activated function(activation interval) is smaller than or equal to the predetermineddata.

That is, the message display determination part 423 determines whetheror not the activation interval is smaller than or equal to thepredetermined data (predetermined value) based on the data of theactivation interval corresponding to the appropriate message displayfunction name and the predetermined data read from the predetermineddata storage part 425.

According to the determined result, when the activation interval issmaller than or equal to the predetermined data, the message displaycontrol part 422 performs controlling so that the confirmation messageis made non-display in step S5, and when the activation interval islarger than the predetermined data, the message display control part 422performs controlling so that the confirmation message is displayed instep S6.

According to the embodiment, when a function including a process fordisplaying the confirmation message is activated, whether or not theconfirmation message is the object of non-display is determined forevery function. Only when the object of non-display is determined,whether or not the activation frequency of the function is greater thanor equal to the predetermined data (predetermined value) is determined,and only when the activation frequency is greater than or equal to thepredetermined data, whether or not the activation interval of thefunction is smaller than or equal to the predetermined data(predetermined value) is determined. And it becomes possible that theconfirmation message is made non-display when the activation interval issmaller than or equal to the predetermined data. Further, theaforementioned processing is performed at each time when the functionincluding a process of displaying the confirmation message is activated,so that the confirmation message is to be displayed when the functionhas not been used for a while.

Further, since the predetermined data (predetermined values) are changedby the user, it is possible to control to be performed in accordancewith the individuality of the user such as inexperience operational ofthe user.

Second Embodiment

In the first embodiment, the aforementioned illustration is describedfor the mobile phone as an example of the message display device.

In the second embodiment, a personal computer is exemplified as themessage display device. For example, the structure except the basicinterface unit 2, the radio communication processing unit 41 and thesoftware excluded reference numeral 51 to 54 in the software group 5 isregarded as a structure of the personal computer. Accordingly, theembodiment described in detail as the first embodiment is possible to beprovided by the personal computer.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the presentinventions have been described in detail, it should be understood thatthe various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A message display device for displaying a message used for notifyinga user of the device of a state that a function processing included inthe device is finished, the message display device comprising: anactivation state storage part for storing an activated event of afunction including a process for displaying the message; and a messagedisplay determination part for controlling the display of the messageaccording to a frequency and an interval that the function including theprocess for displaying the message is activated.
 2. A message displaydevice for displaying a message used for notifying a user of the deviceof a state that a function processing included in the device isfinished, the message display device comprising: first determinationmeans for determining that a function including a process for displayingthe message is activated; second determination means for determiningthat a frequency that the function including the process for displayingthe message is activated is greater than or equal to a firstpredetermined value according to a determination result of the firstdetermination means; third determination means for determining that aninterval that the function including the process for displaying themessage is activated is smaller than or equal to a second predeterminedvalue according to a determination result of the first determinationmeans; and control means for controlling to restrain displaying of themessage when the frequency is greater than or equal to a firstpredetermined value and the interval is smaller than or equal to asecond predetermined value.
 3. The message display device according toclaim 2, further comprising: fourth determination means for determiningthat the function including the process for displaying the message isactivated on the basis of an identifier set whether the message isdisplayed or not; and control means for controlling to restraindisplaying of the message when the frequency is greater than or equal toa first predetermined value, the interval is smaller than or equal to asecond predetermined value, and the identifier is set that the messageis not displayed.
 4. The message display device according to claim 2,further comprising: means for setting the first predetermined value; andmeans for setting the second predetermined value.
 5. The message displaydevice according to claim 3, further comprising means for setting theidentifier whether the message is displayed or not.
 6. The messagedisplay device according to claim 1, wherein the message display deviceis a mobile phone.
 7. The message display device according to claim 2,wherein the message display device is a mobile phone.
 8. A messagedisplay method for notifying a user of the device of a state that afunction processing included in a message display device is finished,the message display method comprising: determining that a functionincluding a process for displaying the message is activated; determiningthat a frequency that the function including the process for displayingthe message is activated is greater than or equal to a firstpredetermined value according to a determination result of that thefunction including the process for displaying the message is activated;determining that an interval that the function including the process fordisplaying the message is activated is smaller than or equal to a secondpredetermined value according to a determination result of that thefunction including the process for displaying the message is activated;and controlling to restrain displaying of the message when the frequencyis greater than or equal to a first predetermined value and the intervalis smaller than or equal to a second predetermined value.
 9. The messagedisplay method according to claim 8, further comprising: determiningthat the function including the process for displaying the message isactivated on the basis of an identifier set whether the message isdisplayed or not; and controlling to restrain displaying of the messagewhen the frequency is greater than or equal to a first predeterminedvalue, the interval is smaller than or equal to a second predeterminedvalue, and the identifier is set that the message is not displayed. 10.The message display method according to claim 8, wherein the userchanges the first predetermined value and/or the second predeterminedvalue as occasion demands.
 11. The message display method according toclaim 9, wherein the user sets the identifier whether the message isdisplayed or not as occasion demands.
 12. The message display methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the method is a display method of a mobilephone.